Table of Contents:

Episode One: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times!



Episode Two: It's all about the Feels!

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Dexter Harrison glanced up at the clock and observed a little over a minute remaining in regulation. For the previous fifty nine rotations of the timer, both goaltenders had been nearly flawless in backstopping their teams deep into the late stages of a one - one tie. And now, for every player and anxious fan alike, the specter of overtime and/or next goal wins was looming ever larger, just as each passing tick of the clock dwindled time ever smaller.

But alas, we're getting ahead of ourselves... Three hours earlier, the Detroit Falcons had left the visitor's dressing room to tackle the tough task of meeting the Nevada Battleborn. Detroit's slow regimented walk down the corridor provided a final few moments to crystallize their thoughts before hitting the ice and becoming exposed to the wild tempest of the Nevada crowd! Now began the difficult assignment of focusing on the chore at hand, and trying to block out as much of the pandemonium as possible.

Tonight was game one of a brand new second round playoff series, and while Nevada came in as the reigning and defending Four Star Cup champions, Detroit had enjoyed a great regular season in their own right, finishing only seven points back in the overall standings. With the two clubs so close, this series promised to be strength against strength, especially with Detroit riding high on the momentum of their first round victory!

And so the feeling out process began. As is often the case in game ones, neither team wanted to make the first mistake and both teams were trying to 'feel out' the opposition to determine what style they intended to play and how to best counter it. This approach often leads to somewhat tentative play, with both clubs deploying a more cautious style than normal, especially in the early going.

That much is known. But the great unknown is just how long this 'feeling out' process will last. In some cases it's lifespan is only a matter of minutes, while in others it can take up to a period or two for things to shake out and settle down. And then on those rare occasions, it can take almost the entire game before teams feel confident enough in their adjustments to start 'playing their game' against this new foe.

Tonight was one such night...

As Harrison glanced up at the clock, the play was headed up ice with Nevada firmly in possession. Here in the dying moments, the situation appeared to be safely in hand, so much so that Nevada's right defenseman seized the opportunity for a quick change. As he approached the bench, the on ice situation took a sudden and foreboding turn. Nevada's left winger was lugging the puck toward the center red line when Detroit's C Jobin made an outstanding play on the back check to legally body him off the puck.

The turnover was completely unforeseen and unpredictable. It was so sudden as to take both teams by surprise, but full credit to C Jobin, for not only creating the loose puck but also for regaining possession and quickly feeding a perfect cross ice pass to Bastien Primeau. Positioned just outside the Nevada blue line, Primeau quickly turned to counter attack and while all this was transpiring, Trap Zelenock had just cleared the Nevada zone (all alone) in the middle of the ice. The new Battleborn defender was just coming off the bench, but not nearly soon enough to catch Primeau.

What developed then was a very dangerous two on one. Primeau skated in on the left wing with the lone remaining Battle Born defender being drawn toward the middle of the ice to prevent a pass over to the uncovered Zelenock. The goaltender squared up to face the shooter, but Bastien timed it perfectly by waiting just long enough for the left defenseman to commit before making his move.

With the last defender diving with his stick out along the ice, (in a desperate attempt to takeaway the pass), Bastien Primeau flipped a seeing eye puck over the stick and right onto Trap Zelenock's deadly blade. Reacting as best he could, the goaltender flung his body across the net as fast as possible, but it was too little too late, as Trap one timed the puck into the yawning cage for a fantastic two - one win!! 

Some may think a low scoring game isn't as fun to watch, but on this night, nothing could have been further from the truth. Both teams left it all on the ice in a game that featured a number of great performances from such stars as:

Jeff Newman
Bastien Primeau
JoJo Larkin
Nathan Meagher
Bohdan Jarovsky
C Jobin
Julian Florsch
and
Bnana NWaffles!

On the other side of the ice, having great games for the defending champs were:

Luke Laraque
Din Djarin
Steven Connors
Manon Graves
John Brown
Alexi Piastri
Dexter Harrison
and
Foxy!

Congratulations to everyone listed above for their outstanding efforts! It really is all about how you play the game and on this hot evening in Nevada, these players were at the very top of their class!

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Just when you think you've seen it all, there's more exciting JHL hockey to come!...

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